Animated explainer · RBI 2025 Directions

Gold loan LTV caps, explained — how the girvi calculator finds your maximum lawful loan

Since 1 April 2026, every bank, co-operative bank and NBFC in India is bound by the tiered loan-to-value caps of the Reserve Bank of India (Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral) Directions, 2025. Branches still quote a flat “per gram” number. This page animates the math they don’t show you — the same math girvi runs entirely on your device.

Open the calculator See how it works ↓

85% ≤ ₹2.5 L 80% ₹2.5–5 L 75% > ₹5 L Para 19 — the cap steps DOWN as the loan grows
The tiered LTV staircase from Para 19 of the RBI 2025 Directions.

01

The branch quotes ₹ per gram. The law speaks in LTV.

Walk into any branch with your bangles and you hear one number: “₹4,300 per gram, madam.” What actually decides your maximum loan is a piece of regulation most borrowers never see.

What you hear

“₹4,300 per gram

One flat number. No tier, no cap, no headroom — take it or leave it.

What decides it

Para 19 RBI 2025 Directions

Tiered caps of 85 / 80 / 75% of your gold’s value, chosen by your total consumption loan per borrower — binding on every lender since 1 April 2026.

girvi’s job is to do the regulator’s math in the open, clause by clause, before the branch quotes you.

02

The staircase: 85 → 80 → 75

The cap is not one percentage — it is a staircase that steps down as the loan grows. And it is circular: the applicable cap depends on the loan, which depends on the cap. girvi solves that boundary exactly, in integer paise.

The tier is chosen by your total consumption loan amount per borrower — an existing gold loan with the same lender can push a new one into a lower tier.

03

Two plateaus, where more gold buys nothing

Plot the lawful ceiling against collateral value and the staircase leaves two flat shelves. Between ≈ ₹2,94,118 and ₹3,12,500 of gold value the ceiling is pinned at ₹2.5 lakh; between ₹6,25,000 and ≈ ₹6,66,667 it is pinned at ₹5 lakh. Inside a plateau, pledging more gold does not raise the ceiling by a single rupee.

plateau ① plateau ② collateral value → lawful ceiling ↑
The ceiling curve of Para 19 — flat exactly where a higher loan would fall into a lower-cap tier.

Try it — drag the value of your gold

Value ₹2,80,000Lawful ceiling ₹2,38,000 85% tier

This mini-demo runs the same paise-exact tier engine as girvi — with no network. In the app you build the value itself from weights, BIS purity grades and your typed 22K rate.

04

Bullet vs EMI — the interest counts against you twice

A bullet loan is repaid in one shot at maturity. Para 6(v) computes its LTV on the total amount repayable at maturity — so the interest itself eats your ceiling — and Para 15 caps bullet consumption loans at 12 months. Here is the same ₹2,00,000 at 12% for 12 months:

Bullet interest here is simple interest — a labelled, editable assumption in girvi; lenders’ compounding and rests vary. girvi shows both totals side by side and re-checks the bullet repayable against your ceiling.

05

The cap never sleeps: margin-call headroom

Para 20 says the LTV cap must hold on an ongoing basis throughout the tenor — not just on sanction day. If gold’s reference price falls far enough, your loan breaches the cap and the lender must act. girvi tells you the exact fall that gets you there.

−15.97% → breach 0% fall −50% fall
Example: a ₹2,00,000 loan on ₹2,80,000 of gold (85% tier) breaches its cap if the reference price falls 15.97%. At the full ₹2,38,000 ceiling, headroom is zero on day one.

06

Why girvi has no live gold price — and why that’s the point

Your ornament list is a map of your family’s wealth. So girvi ships a Content-Security-Policy with connect-src 'none': the browser itself refuses every network request the page could ever make. Not a promise in a privacy policy — a rule the browser enforces.

Diagram: data leaving your device is blocked by the browser's Content-Security-Policy shield before it can ever reach the internet.

07

The tool, in six steps

1

Your ornaments

Gross weight minus stones and other metal = net metal. BIS IS 1417 purity picker: 585 / 750 / 833 / 916 / 958 / 995 — only the intrinsic metal counts (Para 18).

2

You type the rate

Enter the 22K reference rate per gram yourself; lower purities are converted proportionately to the 916 reference (Para 17). No live rate, by design.

3

The lawful ceiling

The paise-exact tier engine, plateau warnings in plain language, and a branch-offer check: within or above the legal cap.

4

True cost

Bullet vs EMI side by side, the 12-month bullet tenor warning (Para 15), and the repayable-at-maturity cap re-check (Para 6(v)).

5

Margin-call headroom

The exact price-fall percentage at which your loan breaches the always-on cap (Para 20), on the step-meter.

6

Carry it to the branch

A printable pledge sheet and RFC-4180 CSV — items, values, tier, ceiling, cost comparison — plus all 14 rules, clause-cited with verified-on dates.

Know your ceiling before the branch quotes you

Free · open source · clause-cited · works offline · nothing leaves your browser.

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